William a



(No Model.)

v W. A. ELMORE. SEAT SUPPORT FOR BIOYGLES.

No. 478,581. Patented July 12, 1892.

I 5 jig-5' 41 7 INVENTOR ATTORNEY UNITE STATES WILLIAM A. ELMORE,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SEAT-SUPPORT FOR BICYCLESI SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 478,581, dated July 12, 1892. Application filed February 1, 1892.Serial No. 419,900. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. ELMORE, a

' citizen of the United States, residing at New ing standard is lockedin place.

York, in the county and State of New York, have inventedanew and usefulSeat-Support, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to seat-supports of the class employed inconnection with bicycles,tricycles, &c., the object being to provide foran increase of the vertical movement of the seat, and at the same timeto provide for the locking to place of the seat-supporting standard.

To the ends aboveset forth the invention consists, essentially, of anauxiliary spring that is arranged in connection with the seatsupportingstandard and of a standard-lockin g attachment, all as will behereinafter more fully described, and specifically pointed out in theclaims.

- Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming partof'this specification, in which similar reference letters and figuresindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side view of a bicycle, representing the same as itappears when provided with my seat-support, the parts being representedas they appear when the seat-support- Fig. 2 is an enlarged centralsectional view of the seatsupport, the parts being shown in the lockedposition. Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of the locking device, thestandard and spring being removed. Fig. at is a side view of the lockingdevice. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail view on line V V of Fig. 3. Fig. 6is a side View of a portion of the bicycle-head and its connections.Fig. 7 is a rear view of a portion of the bicycle-head, and Fig.8 is aside view of a modified form of auxiliary spring.

In the drawings above referred to 10 represents a bicycle-reach, whichis divided just forward of the fork to receive a block 11, said blockbeing formed with an aperture a, adapted to receive and guide theseat-standard 12, which standard is steadied bya bracket 13, that iscarried by the reach 10.

To the upper end of the standard 12 there is held a plate 14, that isarranged for connection with the main-spring plate 15, such connectionbeing by preference established by bolts 1), which pass throughapertures formed in the plates 14 and 15. The main spring 16 carries thesaddle 17 and is arranged in any of the well-known ways.

Betweenv the block 11 and the plate 14 I place a spring 18, the coils ofsuch spring being engaged by lugs c c c 0, formed on or connected to theblock and plate, respectively.

In order that the standard 12 may be locked against any reciprocatingmovement, I form said standard with a notch d, that is normally enteredby a pin 19, said pin being'housed within a transverse circular aperture6, formed in the block 11, the aperture 6 being located to slightly cutthe standard-aperture a. Fromthe above description it will be understoodthat when the peripheral face of the pin 19 enters the standard-notch dthe standard will be held from all vertical reciprooating motion; but ifthe pin be moved from en'- gagement with the standard the spring 18 willbe free to act and an exceedingly-easy seat? will be secured.

To bring about the unlocking of the standard, as above indicated, I cutaway a portion of the peripheral face of the pin 19, as shown atf, andprovide such pin with a lever-arm 20, to which arm there is connectedacord or wire 21, which carries a ring or loop 22, adapted for engagementwith hooks 23 24, that are carried by the machine-head, (see Figs. 6 and7,) said ring or loop normally engaging the loop 23, and the arrangementbeing such that if the ring or loop be moved from engagement with thehook 23 to engagement with the book '24 the cord or wire 21 will bedrawn upon and portion opposite the standard-notch cl, thus freeing thestandard and bringing the spring 18 into play. WVhile the spring 18 isfree to operate the rider experiences a dreamy wavelike motion which isexceedingly enjoyable and materially increases the pleasure of'coastingand riding over easy ground; butwhen diflicult grades or rough ground isencountered it is desirable that the standard 12 be locked to place andthe spring 18 thrown out of action; and to this end I provide the pin 19with a spring 25, that is preferably arranged as shown in Figs. 3 and 5,said spring acting to throw the pin 19 to the locking position,as shownin Fig.2, the range of motion being defined by stop or limit pins 27.

When it is desired to lock the standard, the ring or loop 22 is liftedfrom engagement with the hook 24 and placed upon the hook 23, thispermitting the spring 25 to act upon the pin 19 and move it to itslocking position, as will be readily understood.

Although not positively essential to the proper action of myseat-support, I prefer to provide the spring 18 with a plate 29, that isapertured to receive the standard 12 and formed with tongues 70 70',that are bent over, as shown in Fig. 2, to engage the spring-coils,whereby all buckling of the spring will be prevented, and although underordinary circumstances the spring 18 would be made from a single lengthof wire I might form said spring with a reinforcing-coil, as shown inFig. 8.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the seat-standard, of a spring and a rotativepin, which is adapted to bind the standard in one position and free itin another position, as described.

2. The combination, with a seat-standard formed with a notch, of arotative locking-pin formed with a surface adapted to enter said notchand bind said standard and also with another surface adapted to withdrawfrom said notch and free said standard,as described.

3. The combination, with a seat-standard formed with a notch, of arotative locking-pin formed with a surface adapted to enter said notchandbind said standard and with another surface adapted to withdraw fromsaid notch and free said standard, a lever on said locking-pin, andmeans for reciprocating said lever, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a seat-supporting standard formed with a notch,of a spring coiled around said standard and adapted to actuate the same,a guide-block on the frame of the machine for said standard, a rotativepin housed in said guide-block and having a surface adapted to enter thenotch in said standard and also having another surface adapted towithdraw from said notch, and devices for rotating said pin, asdescribed.

5. The combination,with a seat and itssupporting-standard formed with anotch, of a guide-block for said standard, a rotative pin housed in saidguide-block and having a surface adapted to enter said notch and alsoanother surface adapted to withdraw from said notch, a lever on saidpin, a cord adapted to operate said lever, and retaining-hooks for saidcord, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the seat-supporting standard, of a main spring,an auxiliary spring that is coiled about the standard, a plate formedwith tongues that engagethe coils of the auxiliary spring, the standardpassing through the plate, and a standard-locking attachment,substantially as described.

NVILLIAM A. ELMORE.

Witnesses:

EDWARD KENT, J r., ARTHUR L. KENT.

